Looking at The Get Down recently, I thought to myself, “I’m just like those kids.” Meaning that I was once a New York City boy in the Seventies who could remember rap music from its pre-recording days. Indeed, I was one those subway riding boogie boys who was thrilled by neighborhood block parties where the pioneers sharpened their skills as local b-boys and girls danced to the drummers beat or stood on the sidelines nodding our heads, completely absorbed in the brand new funk that changed our lives.

While we might’ve wanted to hold on to those moments forever, by the next decade what was once “ours” was gifted to the world and soon became a big-money industry. The only boy to man representation was Nas playing the grown-up version of Zeke opening every episode of The Get Down, we don’t see any of the characters as grown-up men talking about the various schools that came after the first wave of street poets broke it down in the playground with their equipment plugged into a streetlamp.

Personally, I know more than a few old schoolers who are forty-plus who cannot hide their disdain for Drake, Kanye or any sounds they might’ve spawned. In the words of my Brooklyn homeboy LaRoc, “It’s all garbage.” Or so they think. Of course, it doesn’t help when one of the whippersnappers starts flipping his lips disrespectfully.

https://massappeal.com/hi...old-school

Interesting. I was a 70's kid, but where I was from, hip-hop was a novelty until the early 80's. By the time I got to college, I had made friends from the City and surrounding areas who'd been around hip-hop from the beginning, like you. There are so many "old schools" now that it's hard to keep up.

As KRS said on "I'm Still #1," there wasn't an "old school" in the 80's because "rap as a whole/[wasn't] even 20 years old." Now, the various "golden ages" of hip-hop are 20, 30, and 40 years old.

I'll look forward to reading the article.

namepeace said:

Interesting. I was a 70's kid, but where I was from, hip-hop was a novelty until the early 80's. By the time I got to college, I had made friends from the City and surrounding areas who'd been around hip-hop from the beginning, like you. There are so many "old schools" now that it's hard to keep up.

As KRS said on "I'm Still #1," there wasn't an "old school" in the 80's because "rap as a whole/[wasn't] even 20 years old." Now, the various "golden ages" of hip-hop are 20, 30, and 40 years old.

I'll look forward to reading the article.

You are so right. I just read an article that claimed present day was "the golden age" of Cali rap. I was like, really? lol...

Rap from California at least retains some of the key aural elements of the genre (production and lyrics), and always had a unique regional angle on it (funk).

Cinny said:

Rap from California at least retains some of the key aural elements of the genre (production and lyrics), and always had a unique regional angle on it (funk).

It still does. But the Heiro Crew, Pharcyde, Del et al. did diversify the West Coast sound.

mikemike13 said:

Looking at The Get Down recently, I thought to myself, “I’m just like those kids.” Meaning that I was once a New York City boy in the Seventies who could remember rap music from its pre-recording days. Indeed, I was one those subway riding boogie boys who was thrilled by neighborhood block parties where the pioneers sharpened their skills as local b-boys and girls danced to the drummers beat or stood on the sidelines nodding our heads, completely absorbed in the brand new funk that changed our lives.

While we might’ve wanted to hold on to those moments forever, by the next decade what was once “ours” was gifted to the world and soon became a big-money industry. The only boy to man representation was Nas playing the grown-up version of Zeke opening every episode of The Get Down, we don’t see any of the characters as grown-up men talking about the various schools that came after the first wave of street poets broke it down in the playground with their equipment plugged into a streetlamp.

Personally, I know more than a few old schoolers who are forty-plus who cannot hide their disdain for Drake, Kanye or any sounds they might’ve spawned. In the words of my Brooklyn homeboy LaRoc, “It’s all garbage.” Or so they think. Of course, it doesn’t help when one of the whippersnappers starts flipping his lips disrespectfully.

https://massappeal.com/hi...old-school

The forefathers who crafted this style of music called rap/hip-hop, these forefathers from the NYC burroughs knew they were sitting on something special and issued a warning to those who would follow

They said if this music was ever commercialized, that would be the end of its essence......this was back in the late 70s before the world even knew what it was....

and fast forward some 40 years later, and their words were not only prophetic but right on the money.......